Fox River Grove soldier at Fort Hood safe and well

A Fox River Grove soldier stationed at Fort Hood, Tex., is safe and well albeit locked down on the base, his grateful father learned Thursday afternoon.

Tim Loughney said he first was able to get a text message from his son Shane Loughney at about 2 p.m., followed by a phone call around 4:15 p.m.

Scrambling the phone lines on the base was an automatic part of the lockdown that began as soon as shots began being fired, Tim Loughney said.

"He's all well and good," Tim Loughney said of his son. "He knew a couple of the guys who were shot. But his closest friends weren't involved with this either."

Shane Loughney was not able to tell his father exactly what building he was locked down in. It was where he just happened to be when the shooting began.

Though Shane Loughney ordinarily works in the armory, that's not necessarily where he was locked down, his father said.

Because his son had served in one of the most dangerous areas of Afghanistan, Tim Loughney felt sure he was now out of harm's way all the way through the end of his army service next June.

Of the 130 soldiers with whom Shane Loughney was deployed to Afghanistan, only 60 returned, his father said.

Shane Loughney graduated from Barrington High School in 2005, attended college for a year and then enlisted in the army about a year after that.

His current plans are to study to be a police officer after he returns to civilian life next year, his father said.